I Can Keep A Secret
by hhgbh
Summary: Yumi lets Odd in on an embarrassing secret which he promises to keep. However, a few slipped words, and an evergrowing group of angry schoolgirls makes the task harder than he thought. Meanwhile, Xana launches a sneak attack on the Skid.
1. A Day As Usual

I Can Keep a Secret

"Run, Odd, run!"

It was a Monday afternoon. 15-year-old Yumi Ishiyama was sprinting through the woods that skirted Kadic Junior High. Behind her was 13-year-old Odd Della Robbia. Both students were fleeing for their lives.

It was a pretty routine school day.

"I _am_ running – Yikes!"

The blond boy ducked as a hedge trimmer was swung at his head. The very tip of his pointed hairstyle came off, thanks to the spinning blades.

"Then run _faster_!"

Yumi reached behind her, grabbed the younger boy with a gloved hand, and put on a burst of speed. This increased the distance between them and their pursuer; Mr. Riley the school custodian. In his eyes, where his pupils usually were, was instead a symbol. One that the two of them had come to recognize instantly.

The possessed groundskeeper was carrying a hedge trimmer, but various other gardening tools were levitating around him, being held in the air by purple electricity. A pair of shears shot out of the group and flew towards the fleeing teens.

"Yah!"

Yumi jumped as the sharp pointed metal hit the ground by her feet. She quickly regained her balance and kept running.

"I hope Ulrich and Aelita hurry up with the tower." She panted to Odd.

"Either that, or Riley gets distracted by a messy flowerbed!" He answered back.

--

The synthetic sun shone as brightly as ever in the desert region of Lyoko. It was a good thing that temperature wasn't really a factor in the digital world, or Ulrich Stern would have probably collapsed from heat exhaustion by now. He was working up enough of a sweat dealing with an old 'friend'.

The boy crossed his twin katanas above his head, blocking a much larger sword. The weapon's owner pushed down with more strength, trying to overpower Ulrich's defence. But the Lyoko warrior refused to yield.

With their arms raised, Ulrich and his dark-haired opponent were able to look each other in the eye.

"Y'know William, this whole 'possessed by Xana' thing is getting kinda old. You sure you don't want to come back to the good guys?" Ulrich said lightly. He then added in a mock tempting tone, "I'll even let you have a ride on the overbike…"

William answered with a kick to Ulrich's midsection which, had he been in his physical form, would've knocked the wind out of him. As it was, he landed with a roll and sprang back to his feet.

William charged him with a wide swing of his sword. Ulrich dodged it by spinning to the side. As he swung back, he swiped with one of his own blades. William blocked it with his spiked armband and brought his sword up again.

The two boys continued to trade blows; their weapons clashing against each other fiercely. They were both fighting to win but, while William wanted to end it quickly, Ulrich was trying to draw out the duel for as long as possible. The main purpose of this fight was, of course, to provide a distraction.

Some distance away, a fire fight was going on. Two of the tall four-legged monsters known as krabs were firing their lasers at a cluster of large rock formations. From the gaps in-between the large stones, pink glowing orbs of energy would occasionally fly out. A third krab had already been destroyed by taking one directly to its' 'face', so the others were being more cautious and keeping their distance.

In the shadows of her temporary shelter, a young pink-haired girl was crouched. She peeked out at her assailants, then quickly drew her head back as red laser beams pelted the rock face. Forming an energy field in her hand, she returned fire, but the krab ducked and the attack passed harmlessly over its' head.

Exhaling in frustration, she tilted her head upwards, as if addressing the sky.

"Jeremie, I'm pinned. Has there been any word from Odd or Yumi?"

Sat before the supercomputer, the bespecled student Jeremie Belpois tapped away at the keyboard while talking into a headset.

"Sorry Aelita, nothing. They must be having a disagreement with Mr. Riley."

Aelita sighed,

"All the more reason for me to deactivate the tower quickly."

Suddenly, a beeping alarm sounded and a new screen opened up on the supercomputer.

"Uh oh, here's another." Said Jeremie. "The scyphozoa is attacking the Skid!"

"What? But I thought it was destroyed!"

"So did I. But here it is, larger than life."

The _Skidbladnir _was docked in the hanger Aelita had constructed for it. Levitating above the motionless craft was the jellyfish-like monster; the scyphozoa. It raised its' tentacles and began to wrap them around the Skid's hull.

"Oh, no you don't." Jeremie typed in a command and the Skid's cockpit visibly glowed green as its' shields were supercharged.

The scyphozoa convulsed from the sudden increase of energy, but it kept its' hold on the ship.

"Looks like Xana's given our floating friend more power." Jeremie said to himself. "You have to hurry guys. You know what losing the Skid will mean."

"Yes. We won't be able to get to Xana's replicas." Aelita replied. It seemed that she had no choice. She had to get to the tower and the only way was through those krabs. Ulrich was still busy with William, and she didn't know how much longer he could hold out. It was time to improvise.

"Jeremie, can you send me the overboard?"

"Well sure Aelita, but why?" Jeremie began typing up the command for the virtual vehicle. "Is there something wrong with your wings?"

"No, it's just that I'll need both for this to work." Aelita stood up as the overboard appeared next to her.

"Care to tell me what it is you're up to?" She could hear the worry creeping into Jeremie's voice, but she answered with a smile,

"I wish I could but, as Odd once told me; the best offence makes no sense!"

With that, Aelita leapt onto the overboard and rode it up to the top of the rock face, leaving the safety of her shelter. The krabs immediately began to open fire.

"Here I come ladies, ready or not!"

Launching into a steep dive, Aelita flew head-on at the monsters. She weaved around their lasers and flew between their legs. Ascending into the air again, she then began to circle her opponents. The krabs were more suited to fighting ground-based targets than airborne ones, and they were not able to turn fast enough to hit the speedy overboard.

Aelita felt that she'd agitated the monsters enough, so she swooped down low and sped along near the ground. The krabs immediately followed in pursuit. Coming up to the rocky formations again, the 'princess' of Lyoko reached an arm out towards it and began to emit a soft sound, like a musical note, from her mouth.

The base of the giant slabs began to flicker and then strip away into nothing as if being rubbed out by some giant eraser. Temperature may not have applied in Lyoko, but gravity did. With nothing holding it up, the chunk of rock collapsed to the ground.

Aelita flew under the descending stone and safely out the other side. The krabs were not far behind her. They skidded to a halt, narrowly avoiding being crushed, but the impact caused the desert's sand to fly up and form a blinding cloud.

While unable to see, the krabs still had their targeting systems. The red rimmed sensors scanned the immediate area for any sign of movement. The fuzzy silhouette of the overboard emerged overhead and the crosshairs instantly locked on to it. The monsters let loose with their lasers on rapid-fire.

The overboard managed to avoid the first few shots, but the ones that followed in quick succession were all on target. The vehicle shuddered under the impacts and crashed down to the ground where it devirtualised. The dust was settling now, so the krabs were searching the area for the board's fallen rider. Little did they know that no one had been riding the board when they'd shot it down.

Aelita hovered high in the air behind the two monsters. Her glowing wings were beating steadily, keeping her airborne. Between her hands, she was forming a large ball of energy twice the size of her normal energy fields. As soon as it was done, she held it up above her head and called out,

"Hey ladies!"

The krabs turned at the sound but, before they could fire off a shot, Aelita's energy field hit home. The resulting explosion blasted apart the two monsters, leaving only scattered pieces which flickered and disappeared.

Aelita landed on the ground, her wings deactivating. She took a moment to get her breath back, still not used to firing off so much energy at once, before running towards the activated tower.

William swung at Ulrich who jumped back and readied himself for the next lunge. But, over his opponent's shoulder, William could see Aelita approaching the tower. Seeing the expression on William's face, Ulrich chanced a look behind him. Knowing immediately what William was going to do, he charged the boy and swung his katanas. But the Xanafied lyoko warrior sank into the ground and sped towards Aelita leaving a black smoky trail.

"Not so fast, William!" Ulrich sprinted after him, his speed greatly increased. He left his own trail but this one was made up of bright yellow light.

Aelita arrived at the tower's entrance and was about to go in when she heard Jeremie cry out,

"Aelita, watch out!"

She turned just in time to see William leap out of the ground in a cloud of smoke, his sword already in mid-swing. There was a sudden flash of yellow, a blur of movement and the sound of weapons making contact. Ulrich and William were stood face to face. Their blades were embedded in each other's bodies. They stayed frozen in that position for about half a second before they both dissolved. Ulrich broke apart like pieces of paper in the wind. William seemed to burn up leaving behind only traces of the black smoke.

Down in the factory's scanner room, one of the man sized tubes opened up to reveal Ulrich back in his civilian attire. He was leaning against the inside of the scanner with one hand over his midsection. He knew there wasn't really a gaping hole in his stomach, but the sensation of being impaled always took a little while to go away.

Shaking himself off, Ulrich climbed the ladder leading up to the 'control room' as he'd mentally dubbed it. They'd never actually gotten around to naming the different parts of the factory, which he found a little strange considering all the time they'd spent there.

Jeremie turned in his chair as Ulrich joined him.

"Great job, Ulrich. Aelita's in the tower."

Ulrich leant on the back of the chair and watched the computer screen.

"Let's just hope we're not too late."

--

Odd cried out in pain as electricity danced over his body. The Xanafied Mr. Riley used the electrical charge coming out of his hand to lift the boy off of the ground and send him flying through the air. Yumi managed to catch Odd, but the momentum caused her to fall back onto the ground.

Looking up, the two teens saw that they were surrounded by Riley's floating weaponry. Their pointed edges and spinning blades were directly facing them. A malicious smile spread across Riley's lips as he flung a hand out, causing the projectiles to shoot right at Yumi and Odd.

They both shut their eyes and held their arms up to shield themselves, even though they knew it wouldn't make a difference. There was a moment of silence, followed by several thuds. They opened their eyes to see Riley passed out on the ground, his tools laying harmlessly around him.

"Phew!" Odd let out an exaggerated sigh of relief and ran his sleeve over his forehead. "Why do we always have to cut it so close?"

Yumi's phone rang and she fished it out of her pocket.

"Jeremie?"

"Yumi, are you and Odd okay?" Jeremie asked while still seated at the supercomputer.

"We're fine. No damage done."

"Speak for yourself!" Odd pointed at his cropped hair. "Do you know how long it will take me to get my perfect point back?"

"You'll live, Odd. I guess this is another victory for us, right Jeremie?"

"Not just yet." Jeremie's voice turned urgent. "The scyphozoa is back, and it's attacking the Skid. Aelita's on her way to the hanger but she'll need back-up."

"Right, we're on our way." Yumi was about to hang up when she heard Ulrich's voice over the phone.

"Hey, wait a second. Look at this."

Jeremie looked at where Ulrich was pointing on the screen. The scyphozoa was convulsing wildly now. A red glow was emanating from its' entire body. Then suddenly it exploded, leaving the _Skidbladnir_ intact.

Jeremie quickly brought up the Skid's stats and checked the condition of their ship.

"That's weird."

"Hey, what's going on?" Yumi asked, not being able to see what was happening.

"The scyphozoa's gone." Jeremie answered. "And, according to the computer, the Skid's completely undamaged."

Yumi exchanged looks with Odd who'd been listening with his ear near her phone.

"So… the threat's over?"

"Yeah, I guess. I'll rematerialize Aelita. We'll see you guys back at school." Jeremie hung up his call with Yumi.

Ulrich let out a chuckle,

"Sure was a waste of time for Xana to bring the scyphozoa back, only to have it get destroyed again. If he had teeth, he'd probably be grinding them."

Jeremie typed in the command to bring Aelita back to Earth. He gently cupped his chin in his hand.

"I'm not so sure."

--

Odd and Yumi looked down at Mr. Riley. They knew there wasn't any permanent damage done to him, but they still couldn't just leave him out in the woods.

"Come on. Let's get him to the infirmary." Said Yumi. "We'll tell Yolanda that he shocked himself on one of his power tools."

"Speaking of which, what about these?" Odd indicated all the gardening implements strewn across the ground.

"We'll have to take them back to the shed later." Yumi answered while draping Riley's left arm over her shoulders.

Odd hefted the custodian's right arm onto his shoulders. The two students began to half-carry, half-drag their campus groundskeeper back towards the school.

Odd looked over at Yumi as they walked. He could definitely see some irritation on her face. Come to think of it; Yumi had seemed a bit moody that morning. While she was a somewhat reserved person, she wasn't usually the type to sulk… unless Ulrich had done something to make her mad – or there were problems at home.

"You okay?"

Yumi looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" She answered far too quickly; a sure sign that something was bothering her.

"Well, it's just that you seem a little…" Odd tried to think of a tactful word. "Grouchy."

"What? No I'm not!" Yumi looked ahead again, her face set in a glower.

"Yes you are. I've seen enough angry girls to know the signs. So come on. What's bothering you? Did Ulrich do something?"

"No. Ulrich didn't do anything." Yumi continued to stare ahead as she answered.

"Yeah, that would've been too obvious. Is there trouble at home? Like with your parents? Is your brother annoying you?"

"My parents are fine, and I'd be worried if Hiroki _wasn't_ trying to annoy me."

Yumi risked a glance at Odd. He was peering at her with narrowed eyes, obviously trying to discern what was up. She spoke more quietly this time.

"Please, Odd. I don't want to talk about it."

"That sounds like something Jim would say." Odd answered with a grin. "Come on, Yumi. Tell me what's wrong. It'll make you feel better. And maybe I can help."

Yumi shook her head.

"It's not something anyone can help with."

"Try me." Odd's confident smile suddenly faded as a thought occurred to him. "Wait. It's not a… 'girl problem' is it?"

"No."

"Then I'm all ears!" The smile returned.

"Well…" Truthfully Yumi did want to talk about it, and Odd seemed to sincerely want to help. "Okay. My mother was redecorating the house, so she bought some hydrangea."

"Hydro-what-a?"

"Hydrangea. It's a flowering plant from Japan. It's very beautiful and great for decorating. However, for some people, touching it invokes an allergic reaction."

"Okay, that's interesting. But what's it got to do with -" Odd saw the expectant expression on Yumi's face. He then looked to the gloves on her hands, and then back to her. "Oh."

The Japanese girl just nodded.

"How bad is it?"

"Bad. My hands are so scaly; Hiroki's started calling me 'Fish Fingers'."

"Ha ha, Fish Fingers! That's a good one!" Yumi gave Odd a glare. "I mean, that's not so bad. It'll clear up, right?"

"Yeah, in a couple of weeks. But in the meantime, I don't want anyone to know, okay?"

Odd gave a shrug.

"Well sure, I won't tell anyone. But, you know, the others wouldn't make fun of you if they knew."

"I know you guys wouldn't." Yumi was referring to Ulrich, Jeremie and Aelita as well as Odd. "But imagine if someone like Sissi found out."

She then began to speak in a high-pitched nasally voice,

"_Oh Yumi, is there something wrong with your hands or is it just that time of year when you shed your skin!_"

Her impersonation of Sissi Delmas was so spot-on that Odd almost doubled up with laughter. Yumi started to giggle as well. By the time they were done, her mood had greatly lifted.

"Thanks, Odd. I actually feel kinda silly getting so embarrassed over this."

"Meh, you shouldn't let things like this get you down. I mean, you don't see me getting all self-conscious because of my foot odour, or my bunny-shaped birthmark."

Yumi turned to face him.

"You have a bunny-shaped birthmark?"

Odd's face froze as he remembered that his friends hadn't known that.

"You are to repeat that to no one."

"Deal." Yumi answered with a smile.

A faint groan sounded out and the teens looked down at Mr. Riley. During their conversation, they'd actually forgotten that they were carrying an unconscious groundskeeper.

"We should probably hurry up and get him inside."

Yumi nodded and they began to pick up the pace.

Yep. Just another typical school day.


	2. Little White Lie

Jeremie pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looked again at the statistics in front of him. It had been a week since the scyphozoa had tried to attack the Skid and, since then, he had been trying to determine exactly what its' goal had been.

The others were all happy to believe that Xana had just underestimated the power of the shields Jeremie had put up around their ship; but Jeremie himself couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't as simple as that. If there was one thing he'd learned from their numerous conflicts with Xana, it was that there was always a reason behind the AI's actions.

That was why he was sitting in front of his dorm's computer, checking and rechecking all the Skid's systems, while all the other students of Kadic were going to breakfast.

A knock at his door indicated that not quite all the students had left.

"Come in."

Ulrich entered the room. He took one look at the computer and nodded to himself.

"I thought so. You still think there's something wrong with the Skid?"

Jeremie gave a sigh.

"Not according to any of the computer analyses, but I just don't know. Xana wouldn't have sent the scyphozoa after the Skid unless he was sure it could do some damage."

Ulrich crossed his arms and leant against the wall.

"Maybe our destroying the replikas has weakened Xana, so he couldn't make scyphozoa as powerful as he wanted."

Jeremie shook his head.

"Xana would already have factored the loss of replikas into whatever calculations he makes when he launches an attack. Speaking of which, there hasn't been any activity from him since the attack on the Skid."

Ulrich shrugged.

"Well that's not unusual. We've gone a few weeks between Xana attacks before." He walked over to Jeremie and leant on his chair so that they were at eye level. "Do you think maybe Xana _wants_ you to think that there's something wrong with the Skid, so that we won't risk any trips into the digital sea? That way, he doesn't have to worry about his precious replikas and can keep on doing… whatever it is he's doing with those other supercomputers."

Jeremie rested his chin on steepled fingers and stared quietly at the computer screen for a moment. He looked like he was about to launch another counter-argument so Ulrich patted him on the shoulder and spoke before he could begin.

"Why don't we forget about it just for now and get some breakfast? Odd said he was feeling particularly peckish this morning, so we'd better hurry!"

The boy genius gave a submissive nod and followed his friend out the door, casting one last look at the computer screen as he went.

--

Sat in the campus cafeteria, Odd was happily slurping at his hot chocolate. He'd occasionally stop to dip a croissant and take a bite, or stuff a banana into his mouth. Seated opposite him, Aelita was trying to shield her own breakfast from splashes of hot chocolate.

"Odd, don't you remember what we said about chewing and swallowing before taking your next bite?" She said to her faux cousin.

"Schorry." Odd answered through a mouthful of croissant, spraying some crumbs over the tabletop.

Ulrich and Jeremie joined them, placing their own trays down where there was space.

"Hey Einstein, welcome back! We missed you!" Odd grinned up at Jeremie. "So what's the verdict? Can we go back to Lyoko now?"

Jeremie pushed up his glasses and sighed through his nose.

"Well, I haven't been able to find anything wrong with the Skid's systems. Everything _seems_ normal. But I just have this feeling..."

"Maybe it would help if I went to Lyoko and inspected the Skid manually?"Aelita suggested.

"That could be just what Xana wants." Jeremie replied. "He could have a trap or ambush waiting for you."

"He could do this... He could do that... Jeremie, we could sit around and try to guess what Xana's up to for months, but it probably wouldn't do us any good." Said Ulrich. "The only way we'll know for sure is by going to Lyoko. If all four of us go, then we'll be ready for whatever surprises might be in store."

It was clear to Jeremie that Aelita and Odd both agreed with what Ulrich was saying. Truthfully, he saw the logic in it as well. He'd run every type of scan on the Skid and had found nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe he was just being overly cautious?

"Okay, you've convinced me. After class, we'll all head over to the factory and run a test flight on the Skid."

"Yes! I can't wait to get back to blasting bad guys. I've been dying of boredom!" Odd drained the last of his hot chocolate and put the bowl down with a satisfied sigh.

Aelita could see that Jeremie was still uneasy about their plans. She placed her hand over his and gave it a squeeze.

"Don't worry. I'm sure it'll will be fine. We've overcome everything that Xana's thrown at us so far." She said with a reassuring smile.

Jeremie couldn't help but smile back as he squeezed her hand in return.

At the other end of the cafeteria, three other students were having a discussion. Actually in truth, one of them was doing all the talking while the other two were listening and nodding at regular intervals.

"Okay, it's the start of the school soccer season and you know what that means." Sissi Delmas looked expectantly at the two boys sat opposite her.

Hervé Pichon and Nicholas Poliakoff exchanged glances before Nicholas answered,

"Er... They're holding auditions for the the team mascot?"

"No, you turkey! It means that it's time for cheerleader tryouts." The dark-haired girl replied hotly.

"But, aren't you already on the cheerleader team?" Hervé asked cautiously.

"Yes, but since Christine Aaronson's little accident, there is now an opening for head cheerleader."

"Oh yeah. Poor Christine." Hervé and Nicholas cringed at the memory.

"Oh, she'll be fine." Sissi waved her hand dismissively. "And it was her own fault for not paying attention while crossing the javelin field. What I want to focus on is getting that head cheerleader position."

She pointed to each of the boys in turn as she assigned them their duties.

"Hervé, you will be my choreographer and cheer writer. I need you to come up with a routine that'll blow away the competition. The team is meeting after lunch in the gym, so be ready.

And you, Nicholas, are in charge of equipment. You are to keep my baton polished, press my uniform when it gets crinkled and ensure that I have water and a soft towel at the ready whenever I need them. Is that clear?"

They both nodded. Sissi stood up with a triumphant smile on her face.

"Prom queen, wreck room monitor _and _head cheerleader. There is truly nothing that Sissi Delmas cannot do!

--

Yumi walked through the school gates, her bag slung over one shoulder. She made her way to the gang's usual meeting spot; at the bench in the campus yard. Sure enough, her friends were there waiting for her. She raised a gloved hand in greeting as she approached.

"Hey guys. What's new?"

"Hope you've been practising your fan throwing Yumi, because Jeremie's given the 'okay' to go back to Lyoko!" Odd said with an excited grin.

"Great. So are we going after the next replika?" Yumi rested her hand on the back of the bench where Jeremie was sitting.

"No, this is just a test flight of the Skid. I want to make sure it's functioning at full capacity before I go sending you into hostile territory."

"Speaking of hostile territory; we better get to science class before Miss Hertz gives us all detention." Ulrich picked up his rucksack. The others all reached for their school gear as well, except for Odd.

"Oh shoot! I forgot my books." He stood up and motioned for the others to go ahead. "You guys give Miss Hertz an excuse. Say... I ate too fast and almost choked to death on a croissant."

"I don't think she'll buy that excuse a second time." Said Aelita.

"Well then just make something up! I'll be there as quick as I can."

Ulrich, Jeremie and Aelita shrugged to each other and set off for their morning class, waving goodbye to Yumi as they went. Yumi watched them go, then quickly walked after Odd.

"Hey, Odd."

The boy turned, bouncing slightly as he was still eager to get going.

"Yeah, Yumi?"

"Well..." She tucked some hair back behind her ear awkwardly while speaking. "I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks for, you know, not telling anyone."

"'Bout what? Oh yeah, the fish fingers. No problem." Odd shrugged and turned to leave again, but Yumi wasn't finished.

"It's just I feel kinda bad. After I told you, I kept expecting someone to come up to me with a snide comment or something."

"What? You really thought I'd tell?" Odd stood with his hands indignantly on his hips.

"Not on purpose." Yumi replied. "It's just that, you sometimes have a tendency to... let things slip."

"Hey come on Yumi, give me some credit. I'm not that big of a blabbermouth. I've kept Lyoko a secret; and believe me it's hard for a natural born braggart like me to keep from telling people that I've saved the world!"

Yumi put her hands up in surrender.

"You're right. I should have had more faith in you. I'm sorry, Odd."

Odd's incensed expression instantly disappeared and he smiled brightly at his friend.

"No problem, Yumi. See you after class."

The blond boy ran off towards the campus dormitories, waving cheerfully as he went. Yumi smiled to herself as she headed off to her first class of the day. Odd may have been a bit wacky, but he was certainly someone who could be trusted.

As Odd jogged up to the dormitory doors, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself,

"Girls; they always get so worked up about the tiniest things. So she's got some flaky skin on her hands, big deal."

"Who's got flaky skin on her hands?"

Odd froze mid-step. He turned his head slowly, hoping it'd just been his imagination; that he hadn't just blurted out Yumi's secret after telling her how trustworthy he was. The sight of Nicholas standing just inside the doorway shattered that little illusion.

"Oh... Nicholas." Odd tried to put on a friendly smile, even though he and the orange-haired boy were anything but friends. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

Nicholas looked down at the books under his arm.

"Sissi forgot her books so she sent me to get them." He then looked at Odd suspiciously. "What about you? Why aren't you in class?"

Odd shrugged in an overly nonchalant manner.

"I forgot my books too. Well it was nice talking to you. Gotta go." He tried to slip past Nicholas, but the larger boy stepped into his path. Suspicion was still etched on his face.

"Hold it, Della Robbia. What were you talking about just now? Who's got flaky hands?"

"Nobody!" Odd hoped his voice didn't come out too squeaky with the panic he could feel welling up.

Nicholas wasn't letting this go. Among other things, Sissi had ordered him and Hervé to always keep their ears open for any juicy gossip. And with the cheerleader tryouts coming up, this 'flaky hands' news could be perfect for taking down a potential opponent – or at least that was how Sissi would put it.

"Do you think I'm stupid, Della Robbia?" Odd had to literally bite his tongue to keep from answering that question. "You were talking about someone. Now, who is it?"

Odd considered simply making a run for it, when a really cool idea sprung into his head. He sighed dejectedly,

"Okay Nicholas, you forced it out of me. I was talking about Sissi."

Nicholas' eyes widened considerably.

"Sissi? She's got flaky hands?"

"Oh, that's putting it lightly!" Odd waved his own hands around for emphasis. "They look like they're covered in scales. Fish Fingeritis is what the doctors call it. Terrible condition; and for it to happen to such a sweet person..."

Odd hung his head mournfully, then risked a glance at Nicholas. It looked like the big ape was buying it.

"Hey, wait a minute." He suddenly said. "Sissi's hands looked just fine this morning."

"Well yeah, that's because she's using hand make-up." Odd answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Nicholas looked bewildered.

"They have make-up for hands?"

"Don't you know anything about girls? They have make-up for pretty much every part of their body!"

Now he just looked flabbergasted. Odd leaned in close to him and spoke in a hushed tone,

"But listen; don't go spreading this around. We both know how cruel some of the kids around here can be, and I'd hate for Sissy to suffer any more than she already has."

Nicholas nodded. He seemed too shell-shocked to speak, so he just took his leave, heading towards the school building.

Odd waited until he was surely out of earshot before his face split into a big grin.

"Ha ha! And the Oscar goes to...! Odd Della Robbia, you sure dodged a laser there!"

--

The school gym was abuzz with chattering girls. They were each dressed in the lavender-coloured uniforms of the Kadic cheerleader team. The physical education teacher Jim Moralés was trying to organise them, a clipboard in his hand.

"Okay, come on. Let's form an orderly line. You, over there. And you, put that mobile away. You know, when I was your age, we cheerleaders had a sense of real discipline."

A group of girls looked up at this comment.

"You were a cheerleader, Jim?" One of them asked.

Jim's face reddened and he held his clipboard up, appearing to inspect the names very closely.

"I'd er... rather not talk about it."

Sissi was stood off to one side, stretching her limbs. She could hear some of the other girls muttering things as they looked her way, but the fact only made her smile. If they really saw her as that much of a threat, it only further proved what she already knew; that she was the only choice for the next head cheerleader.

The gym doors opened and Hervé and Nicholas entered. Nicholas was carrying Sissi's freshly polished baton, a towel and a bottle of water. Hervé was holding a sheet of paper.

"Here you go, Sissi." He gave it to her. "I spent all of science class on your routine. It was kinda short-notice but this should really impress Jim."

Sissi quickly read through the inscribed cheer,

"'Go Kadic team. Steal that ball. We'll be cheering right up 'till the fall.' Hmm, catchy. And the routine looks good too. Lots of high kicks and baton throws; my specialties." She flashed Hervé one of her bright smiles, which she saved for when he and Nicholas did something right. "Thank you, Hervé."

Hervé grinned like a monkey. He was probably going to do badly on Miss Hertz's science test next week, but it was worth it. Then he suddenly remembered and took something out of his back pocket.

"Oh, here. This is for your hands."

He gave Sissi a plastic squeezable tube.

"Oh right, good thinking." Sissi squeezed out some white paste and began rubbing it over her hands. "Got to be sure I can keep a firm grip on the baton."

Nicholas and Hervé looked at each other.

"Er actually Sissi, it's for your flaky skin."

The tube dropped silently to the floor. Sissi stood on the spot, her face impassive. She shook her head slightly, as if clearing it, and spoke calmly,

"I'm sorry. It's for my what?"

"Your flaky skin." Said Hervé. "Nicholas told me about your Fish Fingeritis."

"And, don't worry Sissi, it doesn't bother us." Nicholas chimed in. "Stuff like this happens to everyone. That's actually why I have this lotion. A while ago, I had this really embarrassing rash. So I'd rub that lotion on my -"

Everyone in the gym looked up as Sissi shrieked. She grabbed her water bottle and splashed the liquid over her hands, then began rubbing them vigorously with her towel.

"Sissi, what's the matter with you?" Said Jim. "We're about to start the tryouts, so stop messing around."

Sissi noticed that everyone was staring at her. She put on a beaming smile and held a finger up.

"Could you excuse me for just a moment, Jim?"

Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Hervé and Nicholas by the front of their shirts and dragged them outside. Releasing them, she whirled on the pair. Her eyes were practically on fire.

"How do you two want to die; quick or slow?"

The boys cowered under her glare.

"We-we were just trying to help, Sissi." Hervé stammered out.

"Yeah. Della Robbia told me about your Fish Fingeritis, so I thought if maybe I could-"

"Wait." Sissi held up a hand, silencing him. "Della Robbia told you? Grrrrr! I should've guessed!"

She fumed at the thought of her pointy haired antagonist. She'd lost count of the number of times he'd pulled some dumb prank on her. Now he was going to get it.

"You know, we really don't care about your flaky skin." Hervé said in an effort to calm her.

"I don't _have_ flaky skin, you dunderheads!" Sissy screamed so loud, some birds flew off scared from the nearby trees. She then spoke in her normal tone, "Della Robbia made that up. Now, I am going to go back inside. I am going to get that head cheerleader position. And then I am going to find that purple-obsessed loudmouth and wring his scrawny neck!"

Hervé and Nicholas watched Sissi march back into the gym. They both let out long breaths.

"Boy," Said Nicholas. "I'd sure hate to be Della Robbia right now."


	3. Oh, What A Tangled Web

Odd walked out of the cafeteria, cheerfully patting his stomach.

"Those quiches were superb, Rosa." He called over his shoulder to the lunchlady whom he'd struck a repour with. "I'm looking forward to your meatloaf tonight."

He could see his friends waiting around their bench, having gotten tired of sitting in the cafeteria until he'd finished his third helping of lunch. Just as he was stepping of the stairs by the door, and about to make his way to them; Odd was grabbed by the hood of his sweatshirt and lifted off of his feet! Whoever had seized him, pulled the short blond around the corner of the cafeteria, out of sight of his friends. He was swung around until he found himself face to face with Sissi.

"Hello, Della Robbia." Sissi was back in her usual attire, standing with her hands on her hips. Hervé was just behind her trying to look intimidating, which was not an easy task for someone wearing a tie and sweater-vest. Sissi smiled sweetly at the boy hanging from Nicholas' grip. "I was hoping we could have a little chat."

Odd gulped.

'Okay, don't panic.' He mentally told himself. 'Maybe this isn't about what I told Nicholas this morning.'

Sissi waved her hands in front of Odd's face.

"Tell me; how do these hands look to you? Do they look at all dry? Maybe a little _flaky_?"

'And maybe I'll get an A in my next maths test.' Odd finished his interior monologue.

"Nicholas!" He said to the boy holding him in the air. "What part of 'don't go spreading this around' did you not understand?"

Sissi moved in so that her and Odd's nosetips were nearly touching.

"Did you think it was funny to start a rumour about me having flaky hands on the day of the cheerleader tryouts?" She asked, her voice dangerously low.

"Oh, the cheerleader tryouts were today?" Odd said, hoping to maybe change the subject. "If I'd known, I'd have come along to cheer you on. So, how did you do?"

--

"Ow!"

"Please hold still, Jim." Yolanda Perraudin, the school nurse, held an ice pack over Jim's left eye.

"There isn't any serious damage. Just some minor swelling." She said, then added with a chuckle, "I never knew cheerleading was such a dangerous sport."

Jim groaned as he put his hand over the ice pack, holding it in place.

"That Sissi... Put a baton in her hand and she becomes a lethal weapon!"

--

"Don't try to change the subject, Della Robbia." Sissi's cheeks went slightly red as she answered. "Since you are always saying what a great sense of humor you have; I'm sure you'll see the funny side of what I'm about to do to you."

She took a few steps back, reached into the back pockets of her jeans and pulled out a pair of scissors and a comb.

"In fact you'll probably be laughing right along with everyone else when they see your brand new haircut."

Odd's eyes widened in horror. Not his perfect point! He'd only just managed to get it back to normal, after his unscheduled barber session with Mr. Riley. It was a good thing his hair grew fast; but even that might not help after Sissi was done with him.

"Whoa! Hold it, Sissi! This is all just a big misunderstanding!"

"Oh really?" Sissi began to advance with her torture implements held high. "And exactly which part am I misunderstanding?"

"Well, you see..." Odd began to sweat as the blades of the scissors clacked together. Finally, he just panicked. "The rumour wasn't about you!"

Sissi stopped with the comb a hair's breath from Odd's... hair. She raised an intrigued eyebrow.

"If it wasn't about me, then who was it about?"

"Um... well... er..." Odd tried desperately to think up some story. His Lyoko do was at stake.

"Well; I'm waiting." Sissi waved the comb under Odd's nose, her patience wearing fast.

"Hey!"

Everyone turned her heads to see Yumi standing at the the corner of the cafeteria building. Her fists were clenched by her sides and she was glaring fiercely at Sissi.

"Leave him alone."

"Buzz off, Ishiyama. This has nothing to do with you." Sissi snapped back at her.

"It does now." Yumi then turned her attention to Nicholas. "Put him down."

Nicholas very nearly did so. It was only a sharp look from Sissi that stopped him. What was it about girls that made them so scary when they were mad? Hervé was looking nervous too. It was only Sissi that didn't seem fazed.

"Don't go treating me like the bad guy, Yumi." She said, and pointed at Odd. "Your friend here has been telling people that I -"

"YA YA YA YA GEEAAARRGH!" Odd screamed as loud as he could and flailed his arms around. He gave Nicholas such a scare that the boy dropped him and dashed behind Sissi. She herself was looking at Odd like he'd grown an extra head. Even Yumi was struck dumb at his display.

"Would you excuse us for just a second?" Odd grabbed Sissi by the wrist and ran around the back of the building, dragging the protesting girl behind him.

Yumi, Hervé and Nicholas exchanged looks with each other. Finally, Hervé said,

"Don't look at us. He's your friend."

Sissi almost collided with Odd as he skidded to a stop.

"Have you lost what little marbles you had?!" She screamed at him. "What was that about?"

"Sissi please; I know you're mad but just hear me out. When I spoke to Nicholas this morning, I had received false information!"

Sissi's eyebrow began to twitch.

"If you don't start talking sense, I am going to _tear_ that stupid haircut off your head!"

She raised her hands, ready to grab him. Odd threw his arms up over his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Ask Milly and Tamiya!"

He waited to be set upon by the vicious Sissisaurus Rex, but nothing happened.

"What have Milly and Tamiya got to do with this?"

Odd opened his eyes to see Sissi watching him expectantly. Seizing the opportunity to get away with his life (and, more importantly, his hair) intact, he kept going.

"It was from them that I first heard about your... condition. They let me have a look at a draft of the _Kadic Herald_. They thought an outbreak of Fish Fingeritis was something the students should know about. Except, they kinda got their names mixed up. The article said 'Sissi' when it should've said, um... Sophie!"

Sissi seemed to pull up short.

"Sophie? As in Sophie Florenceau?" An evil glint then came into her eye. "As in Sophie who just got picked to be head cheerleader?"

Odd mentally groaned. He could see where this was going, but it was too late to turn back now.

"Um... yeah."

Sissi smiled. It was not a warm smile. It was more like the kind one would find on a shark as it was about to devour a baby seal.

"Thank you, Odd. I'm glad that we had this little talk."

Still grinning like an old movie villain, Sissi turned around and walked away.

Odd's shoulders slumped. He could certainly see this coming back to bite him. Milly and Tamiya were not going to be happy with him insulting their journalistic integrity. And Sophie – Oh boy! Well, he had been trying to think of a way to break up with her. Now, it seemed like he wouldn't have to worry.

Odd decided not to worry about it for now. It would probably take a couple of days for all this to circle back to him. Even Sissi couldn't spread a rumour that fast.

--

The final bell rang, signalling the end of the school day. Odd, Ulrich, Jeremie and Aelita left their classroom and walked down the hall, towards the school building's main entrance.

"So, you're still not going to tell us what was going on with Sissi earlier?" Aelita said to Odd. "Yumi said you started screaming like a fire alarm, and then dragged Sissi away."

Odd waved a dismissive hand.

"Oh, it was just a little misunderstanding. But I've taken care of it." He began to rub his hands together eagerly. "Now let's get over to the factory. I want to get in my Navskid and play 'shoot the sharks'!"

"Remember Odd, we're just testing the Skid out." Said Jeremie.

"Yeah, I know. But surely you'll want to test the weapons too." Odd replied with a grin. "And knowing our good friend Xana, he'll probably have a bunch of willing monsters to help us do just that."

Just as they reached the doors, a shrill female voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Odd Della Robbia!"

Odd froze, while the rest turned to look at the voice's owner. Sophie Florenceau came stomping down the hall towards them. The brown-haired girl was holding a folded sheet of paper, and she did not look happy.

"I want to talk to you!" She pointed threateningly at Odd.

"Man, what is it with you today?" Said Ulrich. "First Sissi, and now this."

"And aren't you and Sophie going out?" Aelita added.

"Well we were, but I decided to call it off." Odd nodded his head towards the fast approaching girl. "Apparently, she doesn't take rejection well. Let's just go, or she'll end up making a fool of herself."

He quickly moved ahead of the others and pushed the doors open – only to be greeted by an irate Milly Solovieff and Tamiya Diop.

"What's the big idea, Odd?" Milly stood with her hands on her hips while Tamiya was holding a piece of paper with writing and some pictures on it.

"It's only been a couple of hours!" Odd cried out loud. "Did Sissi run around the school yelling through a megaphone?!"

"Yelling what?" Said Ulrich. "Odd, what did you do?"

"Erm..." Odd peeked out of the doorway, hoping to find a distraction. He got one. "Hey look; there's Yumi. Why don't you guys go take care of that _thing_ we were going to do, and I'll catch up."

He practically pushed his friends out the door, pulled Milly and Tamiya in and slammed it shut.

Ulrich and the others stood staring at the door. Yumi joined them.

"What's going on in there?" She asked.

"Looks to me like Odd's having his usual luck with girlfriends." Ulrich answered with a shrug. "Though I don't know what he did to make Milly and Tamiya mad."

"He said he'd catch up, so let's just get to the factory." Said Jeremie.

The four of them started to jog towards the woods. They ran past Sissi, Hervé and Nicholas, not paying them any mind. If they had, they'd have noticed that Sissi was holding a sheet of paper just like the ones Sophie, Milly and Tamiya had had.

"You know Hervé, it really is amazing what you can do with computers today." Sissi smiled as she held up her creation. It was styled like a newsletter with the headline:

_Fish Fingeritis – It could happen to you!_

Underneath the heading, it had a picture of Sophie with her hands covered in green scales and sporting claws.

_Victims should be isolated and excluded from all social clubs – due to the contagious nature of this ailment._

_Thanks go to Milly Solovieff, Tamiya Diop and Odd Della Robbia for raising awareness of this serious condition._

At the bottom of the paper, were three smiling headshots of Milly, Tamiya and Odd.

"So, how did you manage to make those hands look so real?" Sissi asked Hervé.

"It wasn't too hard. I just went on the internet and found a poster for 'Bog Beast: The Return' and grafted the hands onto Sophie's picture."

"Great. And Nicholas, you were sure to give one of these to every member of the cheerleading team, right?"

"I sure did Sissi." Nicholas answered with a grin. He and Hervé were both going to have to serve detention for missing their afternoon classes, but it was worth it.

Sissi looked proudly again at the paper in her hands.

"What a perfect way to get back at both Della Robbia and Florenceau. I swear, I'm so clever that sometimes I amaze even myself."

--

Yumi lifted the cover off of the manhole and led the way down the ladder into the sewer. Three skateboards and two scooters awaited them at the bottom. Yumi and Ulrich each grabbed a skateboard, while Jeremie and Aelita took the scooters.

As they rode along the underground walkway, Ulrich came up alongside Yumi and gave her a challenging grin. He sped ahead to the upcoming stairway and jumped, landing his board sideways on the stair's rail. Riding down the rail, he leapt off and landed on the ground with a skid. He stopped and waited for Yumi try and top his move.

The dark-haired girl put on a burst of speed as she reached the stairway. She sprang into the air, leaving her board to sail down the steps. Planting her feet on the wall, launched herself off and landed back on her board as it reached the bottom of the stairs. She circled Ulrich and flashed him a triumphant smile.

Aelita laughed as she watched their little contest. Jeremie rolled his eyes and called out to them,

"If you two would prefer, you and just horse around here and we can forget the test flight."

"Sorry." The two boarders called back jokingly. Since there wasn't an actual emergency on, they didn't see the harm in having a little fun on their way to Lyoko.

Soon enough, the four teens were on the bridge leading into the old factory. They each grabbed a rope hanging from the ceiling and swung down to the lower floor. As they entered the waiting elevator, Ulrich pushed the big red button by the door.

They rode down in silence, as always. Strange how people always went quiet when entering an elevator. Ulrich thought back to all the times he'd ridden in one – which actually weren't a lot since Kadic didn't have any elevators. He didn't have time to reflect on the matter more, since they'd stopped and Jeremie was entering the code for the control room.

The elevator shutter slid up and the doors split apart revealing the keyboard and automated chair. As Jeremie stepped out, Ulrich hit the red button again and the remaining three descended towards the scanner room.

Maybe that was why people didn't talk in elevators? The rides usually only lasted about twenty seconds. What kind of conversation could you have in that time?

Once again, the shutters lifted and he and the girls each walked up to a scanner.

"You guys ready?" Jeremie said over the speakers.

"Ready, Einstein." Yumi answered from inside her scanner.

"Alright then, let's get started." Jeremie cracked his knuckles and began to type on the keyboard.

"Transfer: Ulrich.

Transfer: Yumi.

Transfer: Aelita."

The scanner doors slid shut. Inside, the occupants could feel their hair and clothing being moved by the artificial breeze created as their individual DNA was checked and recognized by the computer.

"Scanner: Ulrich.

Scanner: Yumi.

Scanner: Aelita."

His friends' virtual profiles flashed up on Jeremie's screen. Everything was good to go. He hit the final button.

"Virtualization."

The Lyoko warriors closed their eyes as they were engulfed by a blinding light. Next came the sensation akin to that of flying.

In the virtual region that had been dubbed 'Sector 5' or Carthage, three figures appeared several feet off the ground. At first, they were just wire frames but quickly developed physical features before dropping down as people.

Now in their Lyoko forms, Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita confirmed their safe arrival to Jeremie and set off towards the Skid's hanger.

"I wonder where Odd is." Yumi said as they approached the elevator platform. "He was the one looking forward to this most of all."

"Well, we can't sit around waiting for him all day." Jeremie answered.

"Yeah. He should've picked a better day to break up with Sophie." Ulrich added, earning some laughs from the other three.

As the moving platform rolled up the sphere-like structure that was the hanger. The Lyoko warriors hopped aboard. As they rose, they could see the _Skidbladnir_ in full detail.

"The Skid looks alright from the outside, Jeremie." Said Aelita.

"It's its' internal systems I'm more concerned with." The blond boy answered. "Take your positions on the platform."

They each stood on one of the circular planes and waited.

"Energize."

Bright beams of light shot upwards as Ulrich, Aelita and Yumi were transported inside the Skid. Aelita was seated in the main cockpit of the ship, while Ulrich and Yumi were inside two of the three smaller Navskids connected to the hull.

Aelita opened the interface, allowing Jeremie to see the internal systems. Just as before, everything was normal.

"Okay, releasing supports."

The magnetic clamps came away, leaving the Skid floating in mid-air. Aelita powered up the ignition and the ship rose out of the hanger, into the data rippled space surrounding Carthage. Jeremie opened up one of the data tunnels and the Skid flew out. Now they were in the open sky over the digital sea. Aelita began to work with the controls in her cockpit.

"Shields activated; sonar acti – Aaaaaggghhh!"

Jeremie sat bolt upright as he heard his friends screaming over his headpiece.

"Guys! Hey guy, what's going on?!"

The _Skidbladnir _plunged straight down into the digital sea, not slowing it's descent as it usually did. Aelita and the others let out surprised screams as they felt the ship go into freefall. It shot out of the entry chute like a cannon ball and spun around several times before finally coming to a halt.

Aelita raised a hand to her head as she waited for her dizziness to clear. It was then that she became aware of Jeremie's voice over the com.

"Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita; can anyone hear me?!"

"We read you, Jeremie." Aelita answered. She could hear his sigh of relief over the radio.

"Is everyone okay?"

"I'm fine." Yumi answered.

"Me too." Said Ulrich. The boy's eyes then widened as he looked out of his viewscreen. The Skid was completely surrounded by a sparking red ball of electricity.

"Uh Jeremie," Ulrich said. "I think you're entitled to give us all a really big 'I told you so'."


	4. Trapped

The blue colouring of the digital sea was tinted red around the forcefield that held the _Skidbladnir _captive.

"What is that thing?" Yumi wondered aloud.

"More importantly; where did it come from?" Said Jeremie.

Inside the cockpit, Aelita checked all of her instruments.

"Everything's working fine, Jeremie. Propulsion, sonar, shields -"

"That's it! The shields!" Jeremie slapped his forehead in realization. "How could I have been so stupid!"

"Hey Jeremie, what is it?" Asked Yumi.

"Xana's attack on the Skid; it wasn't to damage it. It was to hide a digital code inside the shields' signal! That's why I couldn't find anything wrong with it. I was looking at all the energy outputs and data processes in the internal systems and never thought to analyse the shields' digital signal."

"Don't beat yourself up, Jeremie." Said Aelita. "You probably wouldn't have spotted it anyway, with the system's fluctuating power read-out."

"Uh guys," Ulrich spoke up. "We're gonna need you to start speaking in Dummy Talk."

"Sorry, Ulrich." Replied Jeremie. "What's happened is that the Scyphozoa downloaded a digital code into the Skid's shields, so when Aelita activated them it set off the code."

"And trapped us in this... whatever it is." Yumi finished for him.

"Great, so how do we get out of it?" Ulrich asked.

"I'm scanning the sub-sonic digital output and transmitting it to Jeremie." Aelita said as her fingers danced over the controls.

Jeremie cupped his chin in his hand as a wireframe diagram of his friends' prison appeared on the computer screen. On closer inspection, it was actually more of a dodecahedron than a sphere. He scanned the read-outs at each point and his eyes widened when he spotted something.

"Guys, I think I may have found a weak spot."

Everyone in the Skid brightened up at Jeremie's news.

"There's a point directly behind the Skid where the prison is at it's weakest. A couple of torpedoes from a Navskid should create a hole." Jeremie typed at the keyboard bringing up a simulation of his plan.

"Well, alright then." Ulrich grabbed hold of his controls. "Let's blast it and get out of here."

"Wait. There's one problem." Everyone gave a small groan at this. "According to my calculations, the hole will only be big enough for a Navskid to fit through. And, it will only be open long enough for a single one to escape. After that, the energies will realign and reinforce themselves."

"So, in other words, once one of us leaves; the door gets locked behind us." Yumi paraphrased.

"To put it bluntly; yes."

"Well, if only one of us gets to go, it should be Aelita." Said Ulrich. "She's the only one who can do anything about this from the outside."

"If I can get to the hanger, I should be able to manually access the Skid's systems from the interface and deactivate the prison." Aelita said in confirmation.

"Jeremie, is there any way Aelita can get into one of the Navskids?" Yumi asked.

"Hmm, I suppose I could try rerouting the teleporter signal and -"

"Jeremie..." Three voices uttered wearily.

"Okay, okay; I'll skip the explanation."

A few moments passed as the boy genius worked at the keyboard. Once he was sure everything was ready, he spoke into his headpiece.

"Okay Aelita, I'm going to transport you into Odd's Navskid."

"I'm ready." She replied with confidence.

The final button was tapped and the pink-haired girl disappeared from the cockpit, only to reappear in the empty Navskid.

"It worked, Jeremie."

"Great. Now wait while I transport Yumi into the cockpit."

"Say what?" The Japanese girl looked up in alarm.

"Well, somebody's got to release Aelita from the Skid; and we'll need you to pilot the ship back after she's deactivated the prison."

"Looks like you've been made co-pilot, Yumi." Ulrich said jokingly. "How does it feel?"

"Oh great. You know me. I just _love_ computers."

"It's not that different from steering your Navskid, Yumi." Said Aelita. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

Jeremie reactivated the teleporter and transferred Yumi to the cockpit. Following Aelita's instructions, she was able to release the Navskid with no problem.

"Don't worry, guys. I'll get you out of this thing." Aelita said to her friends.

"Don't worry about us, Aelita." Said Ulrich. "You're probably the one in real danger."

"He's right." Added Yumi. "I'll bet this was Xana's plan; to trap the three of us here , leaving you to go back to the hanger alone. He's probably going to send a welcoming party once you get there."

"Well good thing for us, he didn't count on Odd's crazy love-life." Jeremie said with a grin. "I'll give him a call and send him to give Aelita back-up."

"Okay then, here I go."

Aelita fired two torpedoes at the point Jeremie had guided her to. The resulting explosion cleared to reveal a small hole in the glowing wall.

"Hurry Aelita, before it closes up."

Activating the Navskid's thrusters, Aelita flew through the opening. Almost immediately afterwards it sealed itself, the entire prison now glowing with a stronger light than before.

"Okay guys, I'm going to have to focus on Aelita and Odd for now." Jeremie addressed Ulrich and Yumi. "I'll contact you with any changes in the situation."

"Say Jeremie," Ulrich spoke up before the communication was broken. "When Aelita deactivates the prison, it won't do any damage to the Skid will it?"

"Well, theoretically, the Skid should escape in one piece. I've got to go now." And with that, Jeremie's voice was gone.

"Why is it whenever he uses the word 'theoretically' I get a cold feeling of dread?" Yumi said with a resigned sigh.

"Experience." Ulrich replied brusquely.

--

Aelita's Navskid approached the entry chute. It obediently opened as she got closer.

"Jeremie, are you sure I can fly the Navskid all the way to the hanger?" Aelita asked.

"Well, it does basically have the same functions of the Skid, albeit on a smaller scale. If you have the engines on full power, you should be able to make it to the hanger."

Aelita didn't really like that 'should' but kept quiet. The choice was to either risk it, or stay stranded in the digital sea forever. She'd spent enough years as nothing but data.

Hitting the thrusters, Aelita sped up the chute and burst out of the digital sea, zooming back towards Sector 5. The small ship entered the tunnel leading into the spherical structure. She could see the entrance to the hanger, just as her instruments signalled that the thrusters were starting to run out of power.

The Navskid spiralled up into an arc and then dived down into the hanger. Aelita managed to bring it upright just as the thrusters cut out. The ship fell the last few feet, jolting Aelita in her seat.

"Aelita, is everything okay?" Jeremie asked.

"Just fine. I'm back in the hanger."

"Okay, I'll get you out of there."

Jeremie activated the teleporter and transferred Aelita to the circular platform. Once she'd reappeared, the elfin girl ran to the end of the runway she was on. There was seemingly nothing there, but she swept her hand through the air and a small screen appeared before her. Aelita immediately set to work, pressing and moving different mini screens as she searched for the alien code in the Skid's shield systems.

Suddenly, a cloud of black smoke formed at her feet. Noticing this this, Aelita let out a yelp and jumped back as William sprang up in front of her. A sinister smile adorned his face as he held his arm out and his sword formed in his hand. As he advanced, Aelita began to back away.

"Jeremie, looks like we were right about Xana's intentions. William's here."

"And he's not the only one. Aelita, look out behind you!"

At Jeremie's warning, Aelita turned to see four creepers crawling along the path towards her.

"Aelita, get out of there!" Jeremie tightly gripped the armrests of his chair. "Try to lose them in the passageways."

Aelita ducked a sword swing from William and ran towards the creepers, swiping her hand across the star-shaped bracelet on her right wrist. Her wings sprang out of her back and she flew over the monsters' heads, weaving to avoid their laser fire.

William pointed at the retreating figure with his sword.

"_After her_." He said in his digitized voice.

As the creepers left to obey his orders, he turned his attention to the interface Aelita had been working on. The baleful smile returned to his face as he raised a hand over it. Black bolts of electricity left his fingertips and entered the transparent screen. A wireframe image of the _Skidbladnir_ appeared with the prison surrounding it. The image was overshadowed by Xana's logo flashing red.

--

"Hahahaha! No way!" Ulrich laughed and leant his head back against his seat. His body was shaking with mirth. He and Yumi had decided to pass the time by telling funny stories.

"Yes way." Yumi replied amid her own giggles. "My dad had no idea that Hiroki had dropped the worms into his bowl. And, of course, Hiroki wasn't going to tell him. The best part was; after he'd finished eating, he said to my mother, 'Those noodles were delicious. Did you use a different flavouring?'"

The two teens howled with laughter. Yumi was about to tell Ulrich that it was his turn, when the instruments in front of her began beeping.

"Hey, what's going on?" Asked Ulrich.

"I don't know." Yumi replied. "Jeremie, are you there? We've got a situation."

"I'll say." Ulrich cut in. "Look at the prison."

The glowing forcefield wobbled as black electricity began to run over its' surface. It then convulsed and, from its' captives point of view, seemed to contract slightly.

"Jeremie, can you hear me?" Yumi tried again. "It looks like the prison is shrinking!"

Back in the lab, Jeremie had brought up the prison's image on his computer screen.

"That's only because... it is. And if it continues, the Skid will be crushed."

Ulrich and Yumi both blanched at this news.

"How long do we have?" Ulrich asked.

"I'd say, about twenty minutes; maybe less."

"How's Aelita doing?" Said Yumi.

"Bad. William and a bunch of creepers have shown up. She can't even get near the interface." Jeremie could feel panic starting to rise in his chest. He quickly fought it away and took a deep breath. "Just hang on guys. I'm going to keep trying to reach Odd."

As Jeremie's voice disappeared again, Ulrich and Yumi were left to watch the walls of the prison gradually closing in on them.

"I don't know about you Yumi, but I could sure use a good laugh right about now. Got any more funny stories?"

Jeremie called up Odd's mobile number but, just as before, there was no answer.

"Come on Odd, pick up!" The boy genius gritted his teeth in frustration. "How long does it take to break up with a girl?"

--

"Please give it back, Sophie. That call could be important." Odd tried to reach up and take his mobile phone back from Sophie, but the taller girl was easily holding him back with a hand on his forehead.

"Nice try, Odd." She said, pushing him back. "But I know you've got one of your friends calling with an "emergency" so you'll have an excuse to run off, like you always do."

Odd's shoulders slumped.

'Oh, just great. There's probably some big catastrophe on Lyoko that's going to put the world in mortal danger – and I'm _missing_ it!'

He mentally stamped his foot.

"Odd! Are you even listening to me?" He snapped out of his reverie at Sophie's raised voice. "Why did you tell everyone on the cheerleader team that I had some contagious hand condition?!"

"I didn't! I only told Sissi!" He backed up to the wall as Sophie seemed to tower over him.

"And why did you say that me and Tamiya were in on it?" Milly added. She and Sophie both held up the posters in their hands.

"Look, I had nothing to do with those posters. It must've been Sissi, so go talk to her."

Odd dashed between Milly and Tamiya, and headed straight for the door. He pushed them open but then skidded to a halt at what he saw. A group of maybe thirty girls were standing in the campus yard. They were all glaring at him. Out of the throng, Sissi walked towards him. Her hands were casually behind her back and a satisfied smile was on her face.

"Hello, Odd. I was thinking; while you were explaining your actions to Sophie, Milly and Tamiya, I might as well bring along some other girls who would also like a few words with you. Say hello to every girl you've ever dated." She then leaned in close so that only Odd could hear her. "Don't ever play a player. I have school yard spite down to an art."

Odd looked out at all the angry female faces and gulped.

"Heh heh, hi ladies. How's everyone been?"

Claire Girard stepped forward to answer.

"Oh, we've been fine. In fact, all the times you've made fools of us has given us all something to talk about."

Seemingly as one, the crowd took a step forward. Odd stepped back, only to find his rear covered by Sophie, Milly and Tamiya.

"Do you think it's funny to mess with girls all the time?" Jeanne Le Bihan called out. "Are you trying to see how many you can trick into liking you before school's out?"

There were affirmative sounds coming from the girls surrounding her. Odd held his hands up.

"No! It's nothing like that! I have nothing but the utmost respect for girls. It's just that, when it comes to actually dating you, I tend to make some pretty stupid decisions."

"Oh really?" A blonde spoke out. She was leaning on a crutch with her left leg bandaged up. "Like when you decided it would be a good idea to get a closer look at the javelin throwers on Sports Day?"

"Oh Christine, I didn't know you were back in school." Odd rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I really am sorry about that. I guess our first date didn't go as smoothly as I'd planned."

"You know what?" Sorya Abulabbas held up a hand to get everyone's attention. "All this yelling and finger-pointing isn't doing anyone any good."

"Yes! Thank you!" Odd smiled gratefully at her.

"What we need," Sorya continued. "Is to dish out some punishment. Then we'll all have closure and can get on with our lives."

Odd's eyes widened as every girl reached into her bag or pockets and pulled out scissors, combs and cans of hair spray. They really did carry that stuff everywhere they went. He looked over at Sissi, who shrugged and said,

"Why let a good idea go to waste?"

"Now, now ladies!" Odd began to sweat as the pack moved in for the kill. "Is this really necessary? Isn't there anything else I could do?"

"Well, I can think of one thing." said Sissi, holding up a hand to halt the advancing girls. "You could tell us how this all started."

"Oh, okay." Odd stood up straight and addressed the crowd. "Well you see, I grew up with five older sisters who all liked to tease me, so naturally I find girls a little intimidating -"

"Not _that_!" Sissi interrupted. "I'm talking about today. With this whole 'Fish Fingeritis' thing! First you tell Nicholas that it's me who has it, then you tell me it's Sophie -"

"And then you tell the entire female student body!" Odd shot back, pointing at the crowd before them.

"I just want to know, why did you start this rumour in the first place?"

Curious murmurs rang out from the assorted girls. They were all watching Odd expectantly. He finally sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well... the truth is, I made this promise to somebody."

"Oh boy, _another _girlfriend?" Someone called out from the crowd.

"No, it's nothing like that. But they do mean a lot to me, and I promised I'd keep a secret for them. When Nicholas started bugging me, I made up this whole 'Fish Fingeritis' thing which, by the way, I think is a very clever name. What do you say, huh?" A sea of blank faces stared back at him. He cleared his throat. "Ahem. So anyway, I guess I owe an apology to Sophie, Millly and Tamiya."

He turned to face the three named girls.

"Sorry I pulled you into this." He then turned to Sissi. "I'm also sorry to you, Sissi. I know I like to pull pranks on you but - this time - you hadn't done anything to deserve it."

Finally, he faced the girls gathered before him.

"And, sorry to every girl I've ever dated. I can't remember all the different reasons we broke up, but I'm pretty sure they were my fault." He ran the toe of his shoe along the ground in front of him. "You probably all agree that I'm not good boyfriend material... but you still think I'm cute and funny, right?"

He flashed his biggest, toothiest grin at the girls. Some of them laughed. The overall aggression seemed to due down. Even Sissi didn't seem so mad anymore.

"Well Odd, the fact that you'd go to all this trouble just to keep a promise to a friend, shows that you're not such a bad guy."

Odd smiled and rubbed his hands together.

"Well, I'm glad we had this talk. It's good to get these feelings out in the open. Now, if you'll excuse me ladies, I really should get going."

"Not so fast, scrawny." Sissi's hand landed hard on his shoulder. "You said I had flaky hands. For that, you _will_ be punished. But, considering your reasons, we won't go cutting any of your hair off."

She turned to the assembled crowd.

"Combs and hairspray only, girls."

Odd was about to protest, but then just sighed and said,

"Well, please make it quick. There's somewhere I have to be."

As the mob closed in, Milly turned to Tamiya.

"Please tell me you have your camera."

--


	5. HairRaising

Aelita weaved through the air, narrowly avoiding laser fire sent her way by the pursuing creepers. Risking a glance behind her, she could see three of them rapidly crawling along the floor towards her. She turned to look ahead again, only to pull up short. The fourth creeper was sitting on the ceiling like a spider. It fired and hit Aelita in her midsection. Her wings vanished and she fell to the floor with sparks running over her torso.

The creeper seemed to want to finish the job, as it dropped from the ceiling and fell towards Aelita. Its' mouth was open wide and ready to fire. Aelita quickly brought her hand up and shot an energy field at the monster. It hit right in the creature's glowing mouth and blasted it to pieces.

She didn't have time to celebrate this victory, as the remaining creepers began to fire at her. Quickly rolling to her feet, Aelita began to run. She winced as a laser hit her upper arm. A pillar of black smoke suddenly rose up before her, out of which stepped William.

"Jeremie," Aelita backed away from the approaching boy, only to find that she was hemmed in by the three creepers behind her. "It's getting a little crowded over here."

Jeremie gritted his teeth in frustration. He was helpless to do anything but watch as Aelita was surrounded by Xana's agents. He was snapped out of his vexation by the sound of the elevator doors opening behind him.

"Odd, where have you…?" Jeremie trailed off as he took in Odd's appearance.

"Yeah, yeah. I know I'm late, Einstein. I got held up. Just send me to Lyoko and fill me in when I get there." Odd hit the elevator button and descended to the scanner room.

Jeremie sat in stunned silence for a few seconds before shaking himself back to reality and starting up the process for virtualizing Odd.

"Help's on the way, Aelita. Just hang on a little bit longer."

Aelita shot an energy field at William, which he blocked with his sword. The pink energy seemed to flow into the blade, giving it a strong glow. Hefting the large weapon over his shoulder, William swung it at Aelita. Having seen this before, she threw herself to the ground and let the horizontal beam, that was released, hit one of the creepers behind her.

Jumping back to her feet, she dashed between the two remaining monsters in the direction of the dock. William sank into the ground and his smoky trail quickly overtook Aelita. He sprang out of the ground with his palm held out, in front of her face. Before she could even blink, Aelita was engulfed by the blinding black smog that flew from his hand.

William smiled as he lifted Aelita's prone form off of the ground, guiding the smoke with gestures of his hand. He marched towards the hanger entrance, flanked by the two creepers. As they came to the platform where the absent elevator usually stopped, William looked down at the empty whiteness that the sector's walls disappeared into. Lifting Aelita up again, he said teasingly,

"_Any last words_?"

"I got a couple. Lazer Arrow!"

The elevator rolled up the hanger wall, and Odd was standing upon it. He fired off four successive arrows from his gloves, all of which hit William and knocked him off his feet. The two creepers charged at Odd as he hopped off the elevator and landed next to Aelita.

"You okay, Princess?"

The fogginess cleared from Aelita's head as she got back to her feet.

"I'm fine. What kept you?"

"A mob of schoolgirls baying for my blood." Odd answered as he formed a shield over his torso to block an incoming laser. Aelita joined two energy fields together to form her own defence.

"Were they Xanified?" She asked.

"No; which actually made it scarier." Odd ducked another laser and returned fire. It hit the Xana symbol on the head of one of the creepers, destroying the virtual beast. In its' place, William came running towards the Lyoko warrior. His sword was grasped in both hands.

"You take care of the last creeper." Odd said to Aelita. "I'll handle Pretty Boy."

He bounded towards his opponent on all fours. William swung at him but Odd's cat-like agility served him well. He somersaulted over William's head and landed in a crouch behind him.

"Come on William, you can do better than that." He said with a laugh. The dark-haired boy gave a snarl and slashed at him again.

While Odd danced around William's attacks, Aelita was facing off against the last creeper. Every time she tried to raise a hand to fire off an energy field, it snapped at her with its' jaws. She knew she needed to put some distance between them in order to get off a shot, but she was teetering on the edge of the platform as it was. The creeper moved forward, tapping its' single-jointed legs on the ground. Looking down at the footless appendages, Aelita got an idea.

She waited for the creeper to charge up a laser in its' mouth. The red glow intensified, indicating that it was ready to shoot. The monster spat its' deadly beam at Aelita, but the pink-haired girl ducked underneath it. As she did so, she swung her leg out and swept the creeper's legs out from underneath it.

The monster fell sideways, allowing Aelita to jump over it, away from the ledge. It hoisted itself upright as quickly as it could but, when it turned around to attack, Aelita was already standing with an arm outstretched towards it. A glowing pink orb of energy lit up her palm. She simply raised an eyebrow at the beast before firing her energy field and knocking it off the platform where it exploded in midair.

Odd landed hard on his back, not far from where Aelita was standing. William lowered his foot, which he'd used to boot Odd in the face, and started walking towards the downed boy. Aelita made to come to Odd's aid, but he motioned for her to stay where she was.

William raised his sword up over his head and brought it swinging down onto the feline fighter. Odd managed to cross his arms over his body and form a shield just in time to block the blade. At the same time, his tail looped around William's ankle and tugged. This knocked the Xanafied swordsman off balance. He fell forward onto Odd's waiting feet and was vaulted, sword and all, over the edge of the platform.

Odd flipped himself back upright and grinned at Aelita.

"You know, with all the powers Xana gave to William, you think he could've fitted him with a jetpack or something.

Aelita chuckled, and Jeremie couldn't help but smile now that the danger was over. At least for Odd and Aelita.

"Okay you two, this is no time to stand around joking. Ulrich and Yumi still need your help."

"Right, Jeremie." Aelita and Odd took off at a run back to the dock. Jeremie turned his attention to the Skid's status. As such, none of them noticed that William was hanging onto his sword which he had dug into the wall of the hanger.

--

The interior of Ulrich's Navskid had taken on a red tint due to the close proximity of the prison's walls. He and Yumi hadn't said anything for a while and the silence, coupled with the sight of what could be their impending demise, was starting to unnerve him.

He shook his head and tried to will himself to stay positive. Jeremie and Aelita were sure to be doing everything they could to get them out of this. Besides, they'd been in worse situations before. Granted, a lot of those situations they had survived only by the skin of their teeth, and luck like that could only hold out for so long.

"Hey, Yumi?"

"Yes?" Her voice came over the radio. It figured; they might be about to die together and he couldn't even get one last look at her face.

"Listen. In case we don't make it out of this one -"

"Ulrich, don't talk like that." Yumi said firmly. "Aelita will come through for us, just like always."

"I'm sure she will. But, on the chance that she doesn't and this turns out to be… you know, _it_. I just want to say that… I'm glad I met you, Yumi."

Yumi could feel her cheeks starting to go red. She sat in silence as Ulrich continued.

"And, I've really enjoyed all the stuff we've done together. Not just the Lyoko stuff, but everything else too. Also, I'm sorry about all the times I acted like a jealous idiot; y'know, like with William. I guess that's why we'll always be just friends, right?"

Yumi rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, maybe not _always_."

Ulrich's eyebrows rose.

"What do you mean?" He asked tentatively.

"I mean, maybe after we've beaten Xana, which we will, it would be okay for us to…"

Ulrich waited but Yumi seemed to have trailed off.

"To…" he tried prompting her.

Yumi took a deep breath.

"It would be okay for us to -"

"Ulrich, Yumi, I've got good news." Jeremie's voice cut in over the radio. "Aelita's at the interface and is deactivating the prison as we speak."

Sure enough, the glowing red grid began to flicker as if being drained. It wavered faster and faster until the prison shattered like it was made of glass.

"Alright!" Yumi pumped her fists in the air. "Jeremie, it worked. We're free."

Jeremie allowed himself a sigh of relief. The crisis was over.

"Okay, now let's get you guys home."

Yumi took a hold on the control sticks.

"Here goes." She said. "You ready, Ulrich?"

"Couldn't have waited a few more seconds." Ulrich muttered.

"What?"

"I said, let's get out of here." He spoke up brightly.

The Skid came about and glided quickly back to the entry chute that would take them to Lyoko and the hanger.

--

"It worked, you guys." Jeremie said to Aelita and Odd. "Ulrich and Yumi are on their way back to you."

Aelita swiped her hand over the interface screen, causing it to vanish. She turned around to face Odd.

"So, what exactly was the deal with all those girls to – Odd, watch out!"

Odd spun around to see William pouncing at him with his sword held high. He didn't even have time to yell as the sword sliced through his digital body, devirtualizing him instantly.

The doors to Odd's scanner slid open revealing him on his knees clutching at his chest.

"Oh man," He groaned. "Talk about your cheap shot."

Aelita immediately shot several energy fields at William, but he blocked them all with his sword. Seeing that he was getting closer by the second, she formed a larger orb of energy between her hands and threw it. The dark-clad boy sank into the floor and came up behind her. Drained from using so much energy, Aelita could do nothing as he swung his sword, knocking her to the ground with the flat of the blade. William casually extended his hand and used his black smoke to lift Aelita off the floor.

At that moment, the _Skidbladnir_ descended into the hanger. Yumi looked out of the cockpit window and saw what was going on.

"Oh, no. Jeremie, William's got Aelita!"

"I know. Get the Skid into the dock. I'll transport you down there."

"Not enough time." Yumi replied. She could see William guiding Aelita towards the edge of the hanger bay. She tightened her grip on the controls. "Ulrich, hold on."

"Yumi, what're you going to - urk!"

Ulrich was thrown forward from his seat as Yumi speedily dropped so that the ship was on the same level as William and Aelita. She pulled on the control sticks and dragged the Skid's downward-pointing nose upward. It swung like a pendulum and hit the wide-eyed William, knocking him into the air where he dissolved into black mist.

Aelita sat up and looked at the Skid, hovering not far from her. She could see Yumi smiling and waving from the cockpit.

"Y'know Ulrich, I could get used to this piloting stuff."

Ulrich peeled his face off of the window of his Navskid.

"Jeremie, I vote that Yumi isn't allowed to drive anymore."

Three rematerialization commands later, the Lyoko warriors stepped out of their scanners to find Odd waiting for them.

"Hey, guys!" He smiled widely. "I know; you want to thank me for coming to the rescue. Hey, no biggie. That's what I do; pulling my friends out of peril, saving the day. You don't have to fall at my feet."

Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita just stood staring at Odd with their mouths open. Odd looked between the three of them and crossed his arms indignantly.

"Well gee, guys; you could say something."

They stayed frozen in silence for a little while longer before Aelita managed to breathe out,

"Hair…"

Odd's face fell as realization hit him. His face went red as he ran his hand over the result of thirty pairs of vengeful female hands.

"Oh yeah, heh heh. Funny story."

--

Ulrich and Yumi were sat together on the gang's bench. Ulrich was reading the newest issue of the _Kadic Herald_.

"Can you believe this?" He said to Yumi. "It's been a week and they're still showing pictures of Odd's hair."

Yumi pointed to a caption next to the numerous photos.

"Looks like they're holding a contest. Whoever can spot the most shapes in his hair gets a free makeover from Sissi."

The two of them laughed. Yumi patted her own hair with her gloveless hands.

"I think I'll stick to my own style, thank you."

Ulrich folded up the paper and leant back against the bench.

"Do you think this little experience might change Odd's attitude towards girls? I mean, only a fool would want to risk public humiliation just to get a date."

"Ask him yourself." Yumi nodded her head in the direction of an approaching Odd. He was talking excitedly on his mobile.

"Great. So I'll meet you at six. Trust me; this is going to be the best date you've ever been on."

He put his mobile away as he approached his friends, who gave each other knowing glances.

"Who was that?" Ulrich asked.

"New girl. Name's Cassandra. Thought I'd give her an unforgettable welcome to Kadic." He brushed some imaginary dirt off his sleeve and smoothed back his hair. "It took me all week to get my perfect point back, so I gotta make up for lost time."

Ulrich pinched the bridge of his nose and slowly shook his head. Had he honestly expected Odd to ever change?

"So, where are the Einsteins?" Odd asked.

"In Jeremie's room." Yumi replied. "They said they just have to make some finishing touches to the Skid's new security system, and Xana won't be able to pull any tricks like that again."

"Glad to hear it." Odd plopped down next to his Ulrich. "I love it when things get back to normal."

"What about this?" Ulrich held up the _Herald_.

"Oh, that'll blow over." Odd waved a dismissive hand. "My hair's fixed now, so the novelty will soon wear off."

"I guess. But be careful." Ulrich replied warningly. "Get on Milly and Tamiya's wrong sides again and they might get a snap of something more permanent; like your bunny-shaped birthmark."

Odd almost slipped off the bench. He stared in shock at Ulrich.

"How did you know about…?"

He then leaned out so that he could see Yumi. Her face had gone red and she was looking very intently at the ground.

"Did you tell him?"

Yumi placed her hand behind her head.

"Well, we were trying to lighten the mood while trapped in the Skid. I couldn't think of anymore funny stories, and it just popped into my head." She gave Odd an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

Odd just sat gaping at her for a moment, before spring up pointing a finger at her and yelling loudly,

"Fish Fingers!"

END


End file.
